The Influence of Peircean Index in the Emergence of Explanatory Inferencing: Evidence from Children’s Narratives

This account demonstrates how index moderates abductive rationality from early ages. It first presents the theoretical framework of index within Peirce’s semiotic; afterward it reveals the ontogeny of explanatory abductions from children’s narratives (3;0 through 9;0). The latter accounts for when explanations emerge (and the nature of the explanations) in the story-telling process. This account further addresses the utility of certain semiotic devices (namely indexical ones) to enhance implementation of children’s explanations.